Quick Kicks

Lawrence Phillips clones

Although the St. Louis Rams weren’t trying to relate football to real life, they knew the last thing they needed last week were distractions. With a game Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, they needed to be focused on ending a 15-game skid against their rivals.

But quarterback Tony Banks started a week of turmoil by skipping the team’s flight home from Miami after the Rams’ 14-0 loss to the Dolphins and the Rams’ practice on Monday. Then rookie linebacker Leonard Little was involved in a fatal accident late Monday night in which he was driving with a blood-alcohol level of .19, nearly twice the legal limit in Missouri, police said.

After a week in which their focus clearly was elsewhere, the Rams fumbled and bumbled their way through a 28-10 loss to the 49ers on Sunday in the Trans World Dome.

“We have a hard enough time beating the 49ers in a perfect scenario,” Rams president John Shaw said last week. “This is not a perfect scenario.”

Zebra bashing

NFL official Bob Boylston broke his right hip when Raiders running back Napoleon Kaufman ran into him during Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Boylston winced in pain as he was carried off the field on a stretcher just after the start of the second quarter.

On a running play, Kaufman inadvertently plowed into Boylston, his helmet hitting the umpire on the neck. Boylston was knocked to the ground.

Zebra bashing II

Several coaches and players had on-field run-ins with officials in Sunday’s NFL games.

Detroit’s Bobby Ross went into a rage after a pass interference call against Bryant Westbrook jump-started a TD drive for Minnesota. At halftime of the same game, Vikings coach Denny Green headed straight to midfield and walked all the way to the tunnel with official Tony Corrente, arguing that 1 second should not have been put on the clock, allowing the Lions to kick a field goal.

After a New England field goal, Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson stormed onto the field and followed field judge Scott Steenson for 40 yards to argue about the officiating.

San Diego cornerback Terrance Shaw was ejected for arguing after officials ruled that his simultaneous reception with Seattle’s Joey Galloway belonged to Galloway, giving the Seahawks the ball on the San Diego 1.

Break out the Geritol

Steve DeBerg became the oldest starting quarterback in NFL history when he replaced injured Chris Chandler. DeBerg went 9 for 17 for 117 yards and an interception in Atlanta’s 28-3 loss to the New York Jets.

Bledsoe’s milestone

Although he connected on only 13 of 33 passes, Drew Bledsoe threw for 240 yards to surpass the 20,000-yard mark in his NFL career.

Bledsoe got there in 83 starts. Only Miami’s Dan Marino did it quicker, making it in his 74th start.

The last word …

“We just made all those errors out there. God, you don’t see those in junior high, or Pop Warner.” - Barry Sanders after the Lions had 14 penalties for 169 yards in a 34-13 loss to Minnesota.